Everybody Needs Somebody
by Spyff921
Summary: Duo and Hilde have lived in perfect harmony up until now as... friends. After finally taking their relationship to the next step, Duo disappears the following morning. Hilde follows him to Earth only to engage in a battle greater than her love.
1. ebnsb1

Hilde walked into the dark apartment as quietly as possible. It was three o'clock in the morning and she realized once again, that her boss was overworking her. She had finished her job an hour earlier and she knew that if Duo were awake, he wouldn't be in a very sweet disposition. He had warned her to talk to her boss about her hours, but she kept on putting it off. Maybe Duo was irritated that he wasn't getting any sleep when she got home, but it wasn't as if she was loud. Every time she would step into the doorway, she would try very hard not to make any noise, but it always failed because Duo would be up and questioning her or pinning her with death glares.   
  
To her shock and dismay, Duo sat at the table with his head bowed and alert. His head rested on his folded hands and the sudden light that now filled the room hooded his eyes from view. He looked up slowly as she stepped into the kitchen. Hilde gave a squeak of surprise when she saw he was sitting at the table. She placed a hand over her mouth to keep from letting out a startled yelp.   
  
"Duo! How many times do I have to tell you not to surprise me like that. It's really creepy." Duo didn't answer. He only gave her a cold, calculating stare. She became nervous by the expression he was giving her. "Duo? Is everything all right?" she asked, sensing something was different. Duo didn't fool her when he stretched and placed both hands behind his head. His eyes gave him away. They were still serious as he gave her a half-hearted grin.   
  
"Man, you just keep working later and later!" Hilde put on a smile to see if that would placate him. It didn't work. She tried another approach; being upset at him as well.   
  
"Well, you wouldn't have to worry about it if you would just sleep. If you keep on waiting up like this, you're going to fall over with exhaustion." Duo shrugged.   
  
"Can't sleep anyway. So, babe, what have you been doing for the last hour?"   
  
"I went to get something to eat. I was hungry after work." Duo shrugged again which gave Hilde the impression once again that something was bothering Duo. Perhaps she had pushed him too far this time. A flash of their last argument left her with a warning going off inside of her head.   
  
"Hilde, if you don't talk to your boss soon, I might have to do something about it. And that doesn't mean I'll be nice either." He had stomped from the apartment, slamming the door as he left after she had only scoffed at him. She couldn't remember ever seeing Duo so upset about something. What Duo said next was what made Hilde go on full alert.   
  
"Did you talk to your boss?" Hilde gave him a guilty look. His expression changed. He was upset… here it goes… "Kami! Hilde I swear that if you don't talk to him tomorrow I'm going to make a trip over there myself. If it means me having to tie you up and keeping you here at the apartment, I'll do it! I want you to tell that bastard to give you reasonable hours or better pay. Either way you're being gypped and I'm not going to allow you to let yourself be wasted away like this!"   
  
"Duo, you know how I hate to complain! If I start now, my boss is going to start pulling other people up for my job."   
  
"It's the fact that you don't complain that makes you so likeable, but even a normal person can't keep up these hours like you do." Hilde shot him an annoyed scowl.   
  
"I can handle it. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about your next mission. I would guess that you're going down to fix your suit up again and then I head off to get…" Hilde stopped and nearly slapped herself in the forehead. Stupid! She was planning on getting another job. She was getting behind on their rent and she wasn't making any extra money. She would have asked Duo to help out, but then he would have taken it to the extreme and demanded that she just stay home while he did all the work. Men are so stupid sometimes. On the other hand, he had his missions to worry about, so he might not be as inclined to cause a storm about any of it. Sighing, Hilde saw there was no way around her situation. She simply had to get another job. As she reminded herself of this, she turned and headed for a cabinet to pull out a glass.   
  
"Do you want anything?" she asked quietly, praying he wasn't paying too much attention to what she was saying and more attention to his upset situation.   
  
"No, I'm going to sit and watch TV. You," he pointed his finger at her. "Are going to bed!" Hilde hated being ordered what to do like that and Duo knew it. He must have been in a bad mood earlier or else he wouldn't have been looking for a fight at that moment.   
  
"I can take care of myself," she said defensively. "I'll stay up as late as I see fit." Hilde defiantly walked to the sink and began to pour herself some water. Duo, in the mean time, shrugged and got up, heading for the TV. He had realized in the process of spending his entire life living with Hilde, that there was no arguing with her when she held that tone in her voice. They both knew their limits. Hilde turned her back to him as she reached into the fridge to grab an apple.   
  
"Don't take my chair. That's my favorite and you know I like sitting in it after work." Even before she turned around, she knew that Duo had done exactly what she had ordered him not to do. With a glare on her face, she stared down at Duo with his ridiculous grin. "What did I tell you?"   
  
"Not to take your chair?"   
  
"Well?"   
  
"Well what?"   
  
"That's my chair you dolt!" Duo looked around clueless, or at least trying to feign it.   
  
"Really? Huh, I guess it is!" Hilde scowled at his 'sudden' revelation.   
  
"Are you going to get up?"   
  
"I'm perfectly comfortable right here."   
  
"Duo…" Hilde growled. He only grinned at her. Finally, she began to smirk instead.   
  
"Fine." Hilde turned and placed her glass on the table and immediately sat down on Duo's lap while they watched the television set, taking a huge bite of her apple. Duo seemed to stiffen at her nearness and Hilde realized that he might be feeling uncomfortable, so she tried to brighten the mood. She turned around and grinned.   
  
"Hey! Look who's the taller one now!" Duo gave her a look that was incredulous. He had grown so much within the last few months and it was amazing that he was going to keep getting taller. He always liked to hold it over her head that he was always going to be bigger than her, therefore better at everything.   
  
"I can beat you at anything, including height."   
  
"Ha! That's a laugh." Duo decided to take away her little pedestal. He widened his legs she fell right through. He laughed at her disgruntled face. Now she was face to face with him. Finally she started to smile too when she realized the tension had broke.   
  
"Okay, you have height, I'll give you that, but I'm still better at things than you are!"   
  
"Fine, name it! I'd like to hear one thing that you're better at!" Hilde bit her lip in concentration.   
  
"I've… probably had more guys than you've had girlfriends." He lifted his eyebrow in surprise. Then he broke up in laughter.   
  
"You? Have more guys than I have girlfriends? Now that's a laugh! I bet you've had… say… three within the last 10 years!" She looked insulted.   
  
"I'll have you know I was the big girl on my campus for my high school years! That is until I went and joined OZ, not exactly my best decision."   
  
"You've got that right!"   
  
"But still, I bet I've still had more than you."   
  
"Suuuuure and I'm Santa Clause!" Hilde stuck her tongue out at him.   
  
"I bet you that I could bring home a boyfriend within one day." Duo seemed to stiffen up.   
  
"That fast huh?" Hilde only shrugged, seeing how uncomfortable he was, she decided to end the conversation.   
  
"Well, maybe not that fast, but that was a stupid idea."   
  
"I'll say it was!" Hilde was shocked to say he was serious and almost felt a little hurt. Maybe he really did think that she was incapable of getting a boyfriend, not like she really wanted one, she was only looking to tease Duo. They fell silent and Hilde realized that there wasn't too much room to spare on the chair and that Duo must have been squished between her and the cushions. She moved and sat on the floor, leaving her head between his legs. Duo was surprised by the sudden move, he was actually starting to get comfortable. Hilde had been warm and his immediate reaction was to want her back. That thought alone shocked him.   
  
"Hey Hilde. I…" He was going to ask her if he could do anything to help out around the house because she had seemed to run herself a lot thinner lately, but when she turned her deep eyes up to his, he was entranced.   
  
"Duo? Is something wrong?" She noticed the look that he was giving her. His eyes were darkening and she was suddenly enthralled with those amazing eyes.   
  
"Nothing. Not a damn thing." Duo leaned down and kissed her deeply. She was so sweet. Both were surprised by his antics, but neither was willing to stop it. Hilde reached up and placed her hand on his neck as the feelings rushed through her body. Duo placed his own hand on her shoulder and began to rub it mindlessly. When she moved closer to him, it nearly drove him crazy. Kami, she felt so good! It was like a breath of fresh air. Slowly, he moved his hand down her arm and up her side. Hilde gasped into his mouth as he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He hinted for her to open up to him and she did this willingly and he felt like he was in heaven. He didn't let opportunity go to waste.   
  
When Duo took her mouth into attention she was nearly shocked at her boldness to return the affections. His hand was sliding up and down her back now, moving lower bit by bit. Now she knew there was no way that she was going to get a boyfriend because she would never find the right one. The right one was the one kissing her. The realization was almost terrifying. Duo realized that their positions were not very comfortable, imagining that Hilde's neck must have been getting soar; he started to move into a better position. Hilde took the hint and began to reposition herself again, but her foot hit the table, knocking over her glass. They both looked up startled and stared at the dripping table. Breaking the moment, Hilde got up and ran for a towel. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Duo fell back on the chair and looked up. Did someone up there think this was a funny joke? Hilde returned with a towel and began to sop up the mess on the table and floor.   
  
Hilde wasn't sure what else to do. Everything had just changed on them at that moment. Finally, Duo was the one to speak first.   
  
"Bummer." Bummer? Bummer?! Just what the heck did he mean by bummer? Her mind turned over in first confusion, then shock, and finally, in anger. After cleaning up her mess, she picked up the glass and coldly stated she was going to bed. Duo blinking in surprise at her cold exit, he realized that he may have offended her when he… kissed her. The guilt and regret set in after that. Maybe that was a mistake. "Ah man, you're so stupid," he whispered to himself. He flung his arm over his eyes and laid his head back. The TV's lights spread out over the room. Idiot.   
  
Hilde felt her missed time of sleep was catching up with her. She wasn't getting much to eat anymore either. In fact, she was getting more fatigued, but hadn't really noticed until now. Today, she had to get another job and she knew a place she could try. It may take her all day and hopefully she wouldn't be late for work too.   
  
She looked at the clock and groaned. She buried her head in her pillow, but it soon shot back up. 9 o'clock! All the jobs she wanted to get had already started their interviews! All the competition would have been there before her! She quickly shot out of bed, ran into the bathroom and showered. Then she ran back to her room in only a towel and put on a skirt and blouse. Then she was running out into the kitchen. Duo was sitting at the table drinking a can of soda. She didn't understand how on Earth he could drink soda for breakfast! He gave her an odd look as she ran out the door. She stole enough time to give him a smile and a wink, whispering a goodbye before she ran out. Hilde was down half a block down before Duo recovered from the whirlwind that went through the kitchen.   
  
"What's up with her?" he thought. Her job didn't start until late that evening, where could she be going at this time? He heard her tossing and turning in her room last night. The reason why he had noticed was because he couldn't sleep at all either. He had gotten used to it by now, but he had never seen Hilde act like this before. At least, not until she had gotten this job that works late at night.   
  
Instead, he decided to follow her. Reaching for his coat, he put it on as he finished his can of soda, with one arm in one leather sleeve and half way down the stairs. He saw her heading for a business not too far away from the house. Computers. She didn't work there, but than again, he didn't know where she worked to begin with. She was inside for about an hour and as she walked out, she looked dejected and she pulled something out of her pocket and crossed something out. Duo's eyes narrowed. He continued to follow her as she went from one company to another. Each one was computer programming. Hilde was always hanging around her computer, but she didn't do this very often anymore because of her night job. She was always sleeping or working. Finally at about 5 o'clock, Duo noticed that he was getting hungry and that Hilde was still going. That was when he took note that she was getting thinner by the day. At 5:30, she finally came out of a building grinning and looking down at a tag. She smiled up at the fading sun and Duo felt his mouth quirk up in amusement. She was very beautiful standing there with a glowing face.   
  
By the time he got home, he was exhausted and amazed that he had spent, literally, the whole day following Hilde. She came in about fifteen minutes after him and he realized he didn't have any dinner ready.   
  
"Hey, babe! Where have you been? You sped out of here as if the devil was after you." Hilde smiled weakly.   
  
"I just went out shopping and I couldn't find what I was looking for." Duo knew what she had been doing and decided against telling her that he knew.   
  
"I didn't get the chance to make dinner, but I was wondering if you want to go out and get something to eat." Hilde looked about ready to fall over.   
  
"Not tonight. I'm really tired. I've got to get to work tonight besides. Maybe tomorrow."   
  
"Sure. Hey, Trowa's circus is in town again tomorrow afternoon. Want to go to that?" Hilde sighed sadly and smiled apologetically.   
  
"Sorry again Duo. I'm going to visit a friend tomorrow."   
  
"Oh, I didn't know you knew anyone in this colony." Hilde smiled.   
  
"Surprised aren't you?" Hilde turned around and walked down the hall to her room. Duo listened grimly as the door clicked quietly shut and then her flopping down hard on her bed. She must have already been out.   
  
"What is she trying to do? Kill herself?" he thought to himself. Instead, he got up and fell down on top of the couch. As he was flipping through the channels and not finding anything interesting, something caught his eye on the table in front of him. It was a classification section from a month ago. Around the time that Hilde got her job. Disinterested, he reached down and picked it up. Paging through it, he found a small ad circled in pencil. He read over it and his eyes widened. His hands began to shake with either anger or disbelief he wasn't quite sure. He should have waited, but he didn't. He should have thought it through, but he didn't. He should have sat there and just forgotten he had seen the ad, but he couldn't forget it. Instead, he got up and stormed over to Hilde's room with the paper crumpled in his hand. The door flew open, making Hilde almost fall off the bed.   
  
"What's your job?" he yelled angrily. Hilde was rubbing her eyes furiously.   
  
"Duo! I have to go to work tonight and I need rest."   
  
"I'll say you do! What is your job?" Hilde was starting to get mad at being interrupted from her nap and being yelled at the moment she did wake up.   
  
"Duo! What is your problem? I was just trying to get some shuteye. I didn't sleep very well last night…"   
  
"WHAT IS YOUR JOB!" he yelled at her. Hilde was shocked at his fury and she had to restrain herself from shrinking away. Hilde was not a woman to shrink away from a man when he was doing some chest pounding.   
  
"I work in a bar." Duo let out a snort and took a step forward and Hilde eyed him with a warning look.   
  
"What do you do at the bar?"   
  
"I serve drinks and other such services."   
  
"Hilde…"   
  
"Duo…"   
  
"What kind of service?"   
  
"A public service. What is your problem Duo? I work at a bar, what more do you want? I need to keep up with the rent and bills. I'm sorry if that offends you. The only way I can do that is by working! I want you to be happy so you can go off on your missions without any problems. That is what you want, right?" Hilde was furious. She was more than furious. Everything she was doing was for him. Her job as a server at a strip joint was for him. The other job where she could work with computers, that was for him as well, and a little for her, she had to admit, but still in the whole, it was all for him. What was his problem? He just didn't understand.   
  
"What I want to know is when you became such a coward in order to lie to me about what you do to get money!" That hurt Hilde and Duo saw it. He regretted it immediately.   
  
"Hilde…"   
  
"I've got to go," she whispered. Slowly, she got up and walked over to a chair where her coat hung.   
  
"Hilde… I… I didn't…" She passed him on the way to the door.   
  
"I'll see you later," she said quietly. Duo stood with his head hanging low in defeat. He heard the door shut. It didn't slam like he thought it would. Hilde. He waited up for her, but she never came home. Duo fell asleep in the chair waiting for her. The telephone woke him up the next afternoon. Duo squinted at the clock. It was 1 o'clock. Duo ignored the phone and turned to walk over to Hilde's room. He felt a shock run through him when he saw that she wasn't there at all. In fact her bed hadn't been touched since the day before. Duo sped for the phone.   
  
"Hilde?" he asked quickly.   
  
"Uh, no. This is Mr. Tamanoto. I just hired Ms. Hilde yesterday. She was supposed to come in at 10 o'clock this morning, but she never showed up. I was wondering where I could get a hold of her." Duo was feeling the fear starting to rise within him.   
  
"Hilde…"   
  
"Sir? Hello?"   
  
"Uh, yes."   
  
"Who is it am I speaking to?"   
  
"Her roommate."   
  
"Well, Mr.…"   
  
"Maxwell. Duo Maxwell."   
  
"Mr. Maxwell. Please tell Ms. Hilde that she must have misunderstood our instructions and that her job started to today. Will you inform her of us?" Duo was more worried if he could find her or not.   
  
"Yeah, yeah. Bye." He hung up quickly and started to pace the rooms. If she wasn't at work, then where did she go last night? She couldn't have stayed at her other job, could she? Duo started to glower. A strip joint, that's all he needed her working at.   
  
With a foul curse, he was storming out the door with his leather jacket in hand.   
  
"When I get my hands on her I'm going to…" Duo ended up searching everywhere for hours. It was getting to be around early evening by the time he was about ready to give up and just give into the despair.   
  
As he was walking down the street, he turned his head and he saw the tent. Trowa! Maybe he had seen Hilde. Duo didn't waste any time on his way over. He found Trowa in his usual place next to the animals, petting a lion. He was extremely stern when he saw Duo approaching.   
  
"Where have you been? I was hoping you'd come by and get her sooner or later," demanded Trowa in an annoyed voice. Duo gave him a questioning voice.   
  
"Who?" Trowa rolled his eyes.   
  
"I have had to deal with a mooning girl and a nosy woman since last evening and this morning! Will you please take Hilde with you? Cathy is starting to drive me nuts with her complaints on how ridiculous men are!"   
  
"Where is she? I've been looking all over the place for her!"   
  
"In the tents, Cathy is with her, you better take some protection." Trowa nodded to the tent trailer nearby. Duo gave him an incredulous look. Duo was careful not to cause too much commotion as he approached the trailer. He knocked once when he got to the door and Cathy answered it. The cold hard look she gave him made him think twice about Trowa's warning.   
  
"Hello, can I help you?" she said dangerously.   
  
"Yes, I was hoping to find Hilde. Is she here with you?"   
  
"Yes, but…"   
  
"It's all right Cathy. I'll talk to him," came a voice. Duo felt his heart jump up into his throat.   
  
"Hilde?" She stepped forward, looking much more rested than before. She smiled a little at him. After leaving the trailer, they walked around to a secluded area and waited for one or the other to say something first.   
  
"Your boss called today." Hilde groaned and hit herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand.   
  
"Cathy gave me a sedative before I went to bed last night. I was planning on coming back after my job at the bar, but I ended up at Cathy's trailer because I wanted to see how things were going. I slept all the way through my job." Duo felt like he didn't deserve the explanation.   
  
"Hilde, what are you doing to yourself? You're working harder than anyone else I've seen."   
  
"I just want to make it easier for you to go off on your missions." Duo smiled warmly at her.   
  
"Babe, you don't have to go and do that! Things are going great for me! You don't have to take on the whole world by yourself."   
  
"It would be easier for me too… if I could start fighting again." Duo didn't move for a long time. But as he stood there, a wide variety of expressions ran over his face. Each one was totally against the idea.   
  
"Well, you see. I don't think that would be such a great idea." Hilde placed her hands on her hips.   
  
"Why not!"   
  
"Because you've just started to get your life rearranged and I'd say you're doing one hell of a job at it. I don't want you throwing all of that away."   
  
"Duo… That's not fair!"   
  
"No. You can't and you won't." He interrupted her before she could fire off at him. "Because I said so."   
  
"Oh, so I'm supposed to smile and nod like a brainless doll!"   
  
"That would be a bit of a help, wouldn't it? But knowing you, you'll sneak off the moment you get the chance and I won't know where the hell you are. I don't want you going off into the war again!"   
  
"Get over it! I'm grown up and I can take care of myself!"   
  
"Fine, you think that way, I'll think my own way, but you do know that I'll find just another reason for you to stay here where it's safe."   
  
"I'm going! I want to be out there again and I can help with the computer hacking! I've thought a lot about it and I think we can both go back to fighting. If we do the colonies will pay for board and we won't have to worry about rent or finances."   
  
"No no no, don't do this now! Just stay put! The last thing you need to do is run off to the war again. Next time you won't be so lucky!"   
  
"And you know that's not going to happen! I don't care about the risks. It's better than being stuck here! Besides you know the moment you go to your next mission, I'll be following you there!"   
  
"And I'll send you right back! You'll stay stuck here until this war is over." Hilde grit her teeth.   
  
"You're next mission is next week and you know that I'll be coming with you."   
  
"No, you're not!"   
  
"This is stupid! You're not reasoning!"   
  
"I'm not reasoning? What about you?"   
  
"Neither of you are reasoning," came a voice from behind them. Trowa and Cathy stood side by side, watching the scene unfold. Cathy was the one who spoke to them.   
  
"What I want to know, has he apologized to Hilde yet so he can take her home," muttered Trowa. Cathy jabbed him in the side. Trowa let out a gust of air, but refused to curl around his side. He only glared at Cathy who was smiling sweetly at him.   
  
"Well, Hilde, are you coming home now?" asked Duo sheepishly.   
  
"Not until you agree to let me fight again, not like I need your permission!"   
  
"And I said no!" Hilde was now in a glaring fight with Duo and neither was ready to back down. Trowa rolled his eyes and stepped forward. He grabbed Duo's shoulder and began to whisper into his ear.   
  
"Just get it over with and say yes! Then you can get your butts off the grounds. Just remember to give her a sedative to make her sleep, then you won't have to deal with it." Cathy came up and whispered something into Trowa's ear and he glared once again at her, in which, she returned full force.   
  
"Look Hilde, can we discuss this back at the house in private?" begged Duo. Hilde seemed to think it over for a long time when she finally agreed to this.   
  
"Good riddance," growled Trowa as Hilde and Duo walked away down the street. Suddenly, he was completely soaked through and through. He spun around and caught Cathy, who was holding a bucket while trying to run away. Quickly, he picked her up and walked next to a pool of water near by.   
  
"Don't you dare Trowa Barton!" Since she still had the bucket, she stuffed it onto Trowa's head. With him being blind, he tripped and they both ended up falling into the pool. Trowa and Cathy came up sputtering and when Trowa turned to look at Cathy, she was smiling innocently. Then, with lightening speed, she dunked him into the water. Laughing, she got out of the pool and ran for her life with Trowa running after her.   
  
Duo pushed the door open and let Hilde walk in first. As he flipped on the light, Hilde set to making coffee for the two. The clock ticked and that seemed to be the only sound that could be heard. Eventually, they ended up sitting down at the table and drinking their beverages. Finally, Duo had to talk to her.   
  
"Hilde about…"   
  
"Don't even try arguing with me, Duo. I won't let go of this one."   
  
"Well, here's a surprise for you, neither am I!"   
  
"Can't you just understand it from my perspective for once?"   
  
"Well, I don't see you seeing it from mine."   
  
"I'm not going to start this again." Hilde began to get up, but she stopped when she realized that Duo had grabbed her hand from across the table.   
  
"Hilde, I haven't seen you all day, can't you stay and talk for a while?" Duo smiled up at her and she realized that there was no way that she was going to be able to resist that grin, even if it was as ploy just to make her stay put.   
  
"All right."   
  
"Great! Let's go see a movie!" Hilde nearly went into shock. A MOVIE? He wanted to go see a movie after all the arguing they had just done? Besides, it was getting late and she had to work.   
  
"Duo, I have my job to go to tonight."   
  
"Forget the job! Besides, I need you to be around more. It's like I haven't been able to see you at all lately." Hilde's eyes softened as she smiled at him.   
  
"All right. If that's what you want to do."   
  
"Can't you just do something that you want to do and not something that only I want to do?"   
  
"Yes of course! I do things I want to do all the time!" Duo was about to argue that, but decided, what was the point?   
  
"All right, what movie?"   
  
"I don't care. How about that gory movie that just came out?"   
  
"Fine, but I bet I can sit all the way through the whole movie and not wince one bit! Loser buys ice cream!"   
  
"You're on!"   
  
Hilde sat all the way through it and watched every scene of the goriest movie that she had ever lived to watch. Duo on the other hand seemed to be cringing with horror. After it was over and they were walking out, Hilde laughed at Duo's green face.   
  
"Okay, bud, you buy!" Duo glowered while clutching his stomach.   
  
"That whole thing was totally overrated!"   
  
"I sat through it."   
  
"Yeah, well, you have a high tolerance level. They could have left out the part where the guys' heads were blowing up every two minutes!"   
  
"Stop being such a baby and pay up! Besides, you should be used gore after living through this much war. Anyone in this day and age would be able to sit through a little bit of that blood bath in there." It was only meant as a joke, but Hilde realized quickly that it was a subject that shouldn't be touched Duo. He had seen much more war than anyone else. That was the fate of a Gundam pilot. Trying to break the tension in the air, Duo pasted on a smile, or at least tried.   
  
"I say we make a bet than on something else. Loser has to buy the groceries for a week.   
  
"Okay, what is it? Better not lose this one or else I've got something to make fun of for a week." Duo grimaced. He hated it when people could find things to tease him about.   
  
"I think we should bet on…"   
  
"How much ice cream each of us can eat."   
  
"Hey, wait a minute. I lost so that means I have to buy all of it." Hilde winked.   
  
"I know. All right. Fine. Last one there has to buy the ice cream.   
  
Duo held his stomach in agony as they stepped out of the ice cream shop. He seemed to go from blue, to green, to red, and than pale white all the way out to the sidewalk. Hilde followed behind with a grin on her face. She continued to lick a cone stacked with all different types of ice cream.   
  
"Here Duo, want to try some?" she offered evilly. Duo's cheeks puffed up and he ran for the nearest bush. Giving a chuckle, Hilde followed, it felt so good to finally be out without any worries and be with Duo. It seemed like forever.   
  
"Man, I feel better," mumbled Duo as a couple walked by, giving him strange looks. Hilde laughed and pulled Duo along the sidewalk.   
  
"Yeah, well, I win that bet, guess who gets to buy the groceries for a week?"   
  
"Don't remind me."   
  
"Come on, we better be getting home. I'm kind of tired and I need to get ready for work tonight." Duo glared at the thought.   
  
"Hilde, don't you think that you could find a different job?"   
  
"A different job… that reminds me! Why weren't you all surprised when you were telling me about my boss calling?" Duo blushed a dark red and Hilde's eyes widened.   
  
"You were following me, weren't you?" she cried in disbelief. Duo only shrugged helplessly.   
  
"Yes, but… I can explain!"   
  
"Well, it better be some fast talking…"   
  
"All right! When I saw you storming out of the apartment I figured I'd follow you because you were acting really strange. Then I found out you were looking for another job and by the way I'm not very happy about it still, but I figured if I opened my mouth I'd end up short an arm and a leg. I thought it would be in my best interest to keep it hidden."   
  
"You didn't say anything? I'm impressed. Most other cases you would have been down my throat in an instant." Duo shrugged nonchalantly.   
  
"I'm a mature guy." Hilde snorted, trying to hold back her laughter.   
  
"Oh so you think that's funny huh? Well, let's see how funny you think this is!" With out hesitation he proceeded to tickle Hilde mercilessly despite the odd looks they were receiving from other people. Finally, Hilde surrendered and tried to catch her breath.   
  
"All right, you win. Come on, let's go home." Duo was shocked at how wonderful that sounded. Home, it was a place he could go to after every battle, but then he realized that what made it home was that Hilde was there. Waiting with open arms to welcome him. He smiled to himself as he dreamed of the perfect home. It was a home that both of them worked hard to create out of nothing. They were friends that had come up out of the hardships of war and created a safe haven together. The word itself was great to say as well. Home.   
  
"Duo? Uh, Duo? DUO!"   
  
"Huh? What?"   
  
"You spaced out there for a moment, I thought you were stuck there." Duo took his fist and nudged over her chin playfully.   
  
"Yep, just caught up in the moment, come on, race you home, last one there, makes breakfast tomorrow!" Duo raced off, leaving Hilde behind in his dust.   
  
"Hey! You cheater! Duo!"   
  
"Come on, Slow Poke!" Hilde grinned. He asked for it. 


	2. ebnsb2

Hilde gasped with laughter as she opened the door to the apartment, grinning gleefully.   
  
"Yet again, Duo Maxwell, I beat you again!" Duo came puffing, while holding his side in pain once again.   
  
"That wasn't fair! How was I supposed to know that I was going to get a cramp right after I ate all that ice cream?" he whined. Hilde laughed.   
  
"I ate more ice cream than you and I still won! I'm beginning to think you're losing your touch." Duo raised an eyebrow incredulously.   
  
"Oh is that so?"   
  
"Yes, I can beat you at anything today!" Hilde said dreamily.   
  
"Hmm, sure you could. Hey, I say we sit and play a game of chess, it's been a while since we did that." Hilde wanted to play, Duo could tell, but she refused.   
  
"Sorry, I have to get some shut eye if I'm going to get up later tonight for work." Duo frowned yet again and yet again, Hilde had the urge to slap herself in the head.   
  
"Duo, you even think about mentioning…"   
  
"Hilde, you're going to quit that job!"   
  
"Here we go again... it's income isn't it? We need to keep up with the rent!"   
  
"Ok ok, how does this sound? I can talk to Heero and see if it's all right if I can settle down here for a while and get a job when I'm not on a mission, how does that sound?" Hilde was in shock. Duo was offering to get a job? It was amazing!   
  
"R…really? Do you really mean it?" Duo grinned at her shock and yet felt fairly offended at the same time.   
  
"Yeah, sure, a little work never killed anyone." He glanced at Hilde's skinny figure and thought twice about that one.   
  
"But until then, I can't quit my night job."   
  
"Hilde…" Duo said in warning, but Hilde gave him an equally warning glare.   
  
"Duo, I really don't think that you have that kind of control over what I do. I can have the job I want and you have no right to any say in it." Duo's eyes narrowed.   
  
"Exactly what is that supposed to mean?" he asked dangerously. Hilde's eyes widened. He had taken it completely the wrong way.   
  
"Duo… I didn't mean for it to sound like you don't mean that you're not important, but I was just saying that…"   
  
"So I have to become more important in order to give you suggestions and get you to do the right thing? I have to become more and better in your eyes?" Hilde saw the hurt under all the anger that was mounting. She knew that Duo's fuse was slow to light, but once it was lit, it took a long time for him to calm back down, especially since they had been under so much pressure over the last day or two.   
  
"Duo, I didn't mean…"   
  
"That's just it, you didn't mean!"   
  
"Don't do this now that we finally managed to get back here!" she cried in frustration. That stopped Duo in his tracks.   
  
"Back here? You mean back to where we were? Back to the wonderful friendship we had?" Hilde felt hurt and she knew why.   
  
"Why are you speaking of our friendship as if it were in past tense?" He didn't have the patience to be considerate. He didn't want to be kind and weak.   
  
"I don't know if it is Hilde. You tell me. Everything since yesterday has been flipping all over the place. I don't know where I'm standing anymore! It doesn't feel right to be friends anymore!" That was it for her. Hilde couldn't stand his childish behavior anymore.   
  
"Then what do you think it is? Do you want me to leave you? Is that it? If that's what you want, then fine. I'll walk and you won't see me ever again." Duo felt the panic slightly as she began to turn red with anger and hurt, but then it became a shear terror when she threatened to leave him. He couldn't even stand the thought. Before he knew what was happening, he grabbed her and held her close in a steel embrace. He clutched her head and pulled it to his shoulder, as if he was afraid to let her go. Hilde let out a squeak of surprise as he hauled her up to him.   
  
"Duo?" she asked unsurely.   
  
"That was probably the most cruel thing you could ever say to me," he whispered. "Hilde the reason why I am acting like this is because I care about what will happen to you. I can also see that everything you're doing is because of me. I'm not stupid Hilde. I see you have gotten these jobs to keep the rent and not complaining to me because you only want me to be happy. But Hilde, I can't be happy unless I know that both of us are here together and having everything as they've always been. Do you see what I'm trying to say? I just want you to be here when I come back from my missions. I want to make sure that you will be safe and I won't have to worry about you following me into outer space. I know it's hard for you to just sit here while I'm out there fighting, but I would rather die knowing that you were here alive and safe." Hilde felt the tears and resented them. She thought of pulling away, but his warmth was so welcoming it was hard to resist. She hid her tears by turning her face into Duo's shoulder. She breathed in his sent. He had changed over the last year. It was so surprising to see what Duo was becoming, but she loved every one of the changes that took him. She loved everything about him. With that realization, she also knew that if Duo ever found out, they could never turn back and everything would be ruined. But what about that other night when he had kissed her so passionately. She had finally had a part of her dream come true. She had never been happier than in that very moment.   
  
"Duo, what is happening?" she asked as she steadied her disposition. Her face was still buried in his shoulder.   
  
"Babe, if I knew, you would be the first to know, but I'm just as confused as you are," Duo whispered hoarsely in an un-Duo like voice.   
  
"Duo, my job… I'm not a stripper. I work at the strip joint, but… I was a waitress. The manager said that I didn't have the right stuff for that anyway. I settled for being a waitress," Hilde finally admitted. "If I had known you were so against it, I would have looked somewhere else, but it's my life, Duo." He turned his head and nuzzled her neck affectionately.   
  
"It may be your life, but no matter what you say, I'll always have a say in it." Hilde smiled wryly.   
  
"Really? Now how does that work?"   
  
"Simple. I'll show you." Duo smiled as he leaned back to get a better look at her. Slowly, cautiously, he came forward and covered her lips. It was a fluid motion and as smooth as water. Hilde was not surprised at the grace, only shocked by the feeling. That was all she could do. Feel. Duo's arms tightened protectively around her waist and made sure there wasn't a bit of air between them. Hilde's hands came up and feather touched his braid and trailed her fingers down shoulders and arms. Duo almost felt his eyes roll up into his head when he felt her kiss him back. It was Hilde who showed more enthusiasm and passion at first and it was like a storm was swallowing the both of them very quickly. The excitement rose as Duo turned them so that he held Hilde up against a wall, not breaking the kiss. It was a glorious feeling for him. Heaven was his to control. With a touch of a finger and shifting his lips in a such a way, Hilde was his to take and taste. With that knowledge, he respected the power of it by lightning up a bit, but Hilde would have none of it. She pulled back and stared into his eyes fiercely.   
  
"I swear if you stop now, I'll never forgive you Duo Maxwell." Duo smiled a little.   
  
"Now we can't have that, now can we?"   
  
He had her lips once again and in moments, they were tripping their way to one of their rooms. Hilde barely noticed whose room it was until they were falling onto the bed. It was hers. Her eyes roamed over Duo's face as he leaned over her, breathing in his sent, his very essence.   
  
"I'm going to give you five seconds to say anything before this goes too far," groaned Duo. Hilde smiled.   
  
"Then you've just wasted a good five seconds." Duo grinned and lowered his head down to her neck and began to proceed with what they had wanted for a long time. 


	3. ebnsb3

Hilde smiled as the sun peered into her bedroom. All of the events from the night before rushed back to her in warm waves. Her eyes remained on the ceiling for a long moment and then she turned to put her arm around Duo, who was sleeping next to her. A feeling of dread washed over her when she felt her arm fall through nothing but air. Duo was not there. She shot up and looked around. Everything was normal, as if he never came into her room last night. Biting her lip, Hilde shot out of bed, pulling on a huge t-shirt that had once belonged to Duo. The apartment was eerily silent. She clutched the t-shirt to her trembling body. Oh Kami, please, let it not have been a dream. Let it have been real. The silence was driving her mad. She turned and peeked around to corner in the kitchen. No one was there. She looked in the living room, no one. Her heart was now panicking. She quickly sped to Duo's room and found that everything was in place. Her eyes roamed around and then she decided to go back into the kitchen. Maybe he had gotten up and gone to get some food. She sat and waited in the kitchen for long moments, and then something caught her eye. A flashing red light on the vid screen showed that a message had been sent. Hilde slowly made her way over, as if being cautious of something. She hit the button and the vid came to life. Quatre's face appeared on the screen. His face was grim.   
  
"Duo, there's been an attack on the civilians on Earth. Evidently the rebels down there are taking it too far. Meet us at the base twenty miles from London. We'll brief when everyone gets there." By the end of the vid message, Hilde's teeth were grinding. He had done it. Her top was about to go flying off the handle and Duo was off on another mission without her! She wanted to scream so badly, it was bubbling up within her. Hilde slammed her fist down on the table, holding in her fury from Duo's sneaky trick. Not a goodbye even. And he thought that she was going to just sit there while he was off on some mission. Hell, she said she was going to fight again, so she was going to fight again! Immediately, not even bothering to shower, she packed up her things, dressed and as she walked by the vid screen, she stopped and gave it a thoughtful look. She reached over and deleted the message Quatre had given to Duo. Giving a moment's thought to leaving a message for Duo in case he should come back while she was away, she decided she was going to skip that. If he couldn't stand saying a simple goodbye, then neither did she. She picked up her suitcase, small pouch full of meager money and headed out the door, destination… Earth. London huh? Well, then, that's where she would go.   
  
Duo felt guilty as in to what he had done, but he saw no other way of doing it. Hilde would have argued him down and wanted to go with him. He wasn't about to put her in that kind of danger. He stared straight ahead as Deathscythe made its way towards Earth. Quatre had made it clear for the pilots to gather near London without being tracked by OZ. He sighed as he remembered Hilde the night before. Kami, she was so beautiful. The way she sighed into his ear as they became complete, what he would have given to wake up with her the next morning. He shook his head. Stop it. Stop thinking of something that never happened. Concentrate. His mind turned to the situation at hand. The rebels on Earth had gone too far and attacked a civilian town with OZ guards posted all over. More civilians were killed than OZ soldiers. The Gundam pilots were sent to deal with it. Innocent people didn't deserve to die because of the mere presence of enemies. Duo knew he and the other pilots had their work cut out for them.   
  
London came into view and Duo slowed down as he passed it and then further into the wooded areas. He landed his Gundam safely and managed to hide it among the trees. The moment he jumped out from his Gundam, he was greeted by Trowa.   
  
"What took you so long?" Duo rolled his eyes.   
  
"Hey, I got here as fast as I could, given the circumstances." Trowa remained stoic. He turned and Duo took that as a cue to follow him. They walked into the woods where an old wooden cabin came into view.   
  
"Whoa, nice hide out, did you pick it out yourself." Trowa ignored his sarcasm. "Geez, you could at least be a little more friendly." They entered the small cabin and Duo found Quatre, Wufei, and Heero sitting around a table with a lamp hanging overhead. They all looked up and Wufei seemed to grow even sterner looking, if that were possible.   
  
"What took you so long, Maxwell? We were all here a day ahead of you." Duo swore if he heard one more word about him being late he was going to punch someone. If it weren't for this stupid mission, he could have been back at home with Hilde, making love. This and added that Hilde was going to be royally pissed at him did not put him in a good mood. Instead of giving a cocky remark he only growled and sat down harshly on a nearby chair.   
  
"Hey, I suggest you just back off right now." No one made any further comments; instead, they got back to their mission.   
  
"Basically, I think that we should stand guard for a while. I know that this war is drawing to a close, but…"   
  
"You mean I came all this way just to stand guard over a bunch of weak simpletons?" cried Wufei with outrage. Trowa and Heero shot him death glares. One he could handle, but two was more than he could take. He silenced himself immediately. Quatre ignored Wufei's earlier comment and continued.   
  
"I have a hunch that this will happen again. London is chalk full of OZ soldiers and I think it's only a matter of time." The others agreed. "We'll reason with the rebels first, but if they refuse to cooperate with us on the matters of civilian lives, I think we will be forced to defend and attack."   
  
"Just how long will this whole thing last do you think?" Quatre looked thoughtful for a moment at Duo's question.   
  
"It could last a while, depending on how everything goes." Duo groaned. He wouldn't get to see Hilde for a long time then. The others looked a little shocked at Duo's reaction. He was the Shinigami after all.   
  
"Duo, what's the matter with you?" asked Quatre. He had unknowingly spoken for the other three pilots as well. Duo laughed nervously, tucking an arm behind his head.   
  
"N… nothing… why do you ask?"   
  
"Well, you're just acting a little strange. It's almost as if you want to leave and go back…" Quatre trailed off and Duo blushed. They all knew that Duo and Hilde were living together, but up until then, they had also known that they were living together as friends only. Duo's red face took away any doubts that Hilde and him were having anything else beyond a friendly relationship. Wufei smirked and mumbled something about Duo being weak. Quatre could have sworn that Trowa almost smiled. Heero had a glazed look on his face, as he was thinking about someone as well. Wufei broke the silence.   
  
"Well, it looks as if Shinigami has found his mate…" Duo growled and jumped up, chasing after the young Chinese man.   
  
"Get back here you greasy rat." Wufei turned around and glared at him. Duo nearly caught him, but Wufei only slipped away and sat on a chair comfortably. Duo flexed his fingers, as if he craved to strangle his comrade. He lunged at the relaxed looking Wufei. Suddenly, Wufei was not in the chair anymore and Duo ended up tackling a wooden object. He crashed to the ground and Quatre and Heero flinched at the sound of wood cracking. Duo laid there stunned for a long moment, then he sat up and held a hand to his head. He glared at Wufei who was only smiling a little at his triumphant get away. Trowa sighed and mumbled something about preparing to get some rest. Duo continued to glare at Wufei's retreating back into the darkness of another room. Grumbling something about strangling a certain Chinese pilot, Duo stood and brushed off his rear from the dust that had accumulated there after his misfortune with the chair. Quatre smiled and stated that Duo got the couch. Of course, the smile didn't hide the mirth that was lurking behind those ocean blue eyes.   
  
Heero remained sitting there in silence as the others went off to Kami knows where and Duo settled down with a blanket and pillow he had found in a closet nearby. He turned and noticed Heero still sitting there, but thought it wise not to say anything to him being that he was deep in thought. Duo shut his eyes and listened to the fire blaze softly in the fireplace. He opened his eye a little and peaked out at his friend. Heero still sat there with a look of total concentration on something. Duo closed his eye once again and tried to count himself to sleep. By the time he had counted to 139 he had enough of being wise and sat up to question his friend.   
  
"Hey, are you planning on going to bed or what?" Heero still looked concentrated on something only he could see. His hands were folded into a big fist, resting over his mouth. Not once did he look up.   
  
"Do you think a pilot can purify his bloody hands?" This completely caught Duo off guard. He rubbed the back of his head in thought.   
  
"Well, that would depend I guess. Do you mean philosophically or literally?" Heero now looked at him and gave him a glare that meant to say not to mess around with him. Duo backed off and knew that he wasn't exactly in the best attitude either.   
  
"Yes, I think if a person works hard at paying for what they have done with return of kindness, a soldier can purify himself of blood that he has made others shed. I'm still doing this. It's the only way…" Heero smiled as Duo trailed off.   
  
"You can stand to be with Hilde." Duo laughed a little nervously and turned away, immediately becoming serious.   
  
"As much as it scares me, I love her… to the bottom of my very soul and Kami shoot me if I ever let that go to waste. I thought I had run out of chances at a home and a person I can call a friend and love." Heero stared at his friend's back. "I'm not about to let her go." His shoulders were hunched over as he folded his own hands together and let his head hang limply with his elbows on his knees.   
  
"So it's true then?" smirked Heero, suddenly changing the mood. "You did sleep with her!"   
  
"What! Why you…." Duo turned around and let out a cry of a warrior and tackled Heero. The two rolled around, wrestling like two young men their age should wrestle. The ruckus brought the other pilots running to the entryway and found the two pilots locked in a battle. As they were trying to pull the two apart somehow they were all caught up into the wrestling match as well and everyone no longer knew who was enemy and who was a lovesick friend. 


	4. ebnsb4

Chapter 4  
  
Hilde ground her teeth for the hundredth time as she thought of how Duo walked out that morning without so much as a goodbye. She was not someone to let her anger slide away so quickly. This was all crazy, and a mess at that. One big crapped up mess. Hilde stared out the shuttle that was making its way down to Earth. She sneered at the pathetic job OZ was doing in their security with transportation. Her eyes wandered from the view of Earth to the interior of the shuttle. There were little children playing in their seats as their mother warned them strictly to be careful. An old couple sat nearby. The woman turned and smiled at her husband, the wrinkles in her face creasing and her husband responded by placing his hand casually on her own. Hilde sighed and turned her eyes back towards the Earth. It was so beautiful from there.   
  
It made her begin to think of everything she could have or what she wanted. She realized what she wanted was only a normal life. It was driving her mad with want alone. She knew what Duo would say. It was only to protect her, but Duo couldn't protect her forever! He was just going to have to get used to it. Hilde chuckled at the huge explosion she would give him when he would state his protectiveness towards her. There would be hell to pay for it as well.   
  
With a long sigh, she let her thoughts fall over into a deep oblivion of sleep. Duo would come soon enough, but right now, all she wanted was to roll over and close her eyes and that's exactly what she did.   
  
The arrival on Earth wasn't easy as Hilde's head swam with the sudden pressure of the atmosphere. Slowly, she made her way from the shuttle and saw that someone was watching her. She turned and began to quickly walk towards the exit of the port. The moment she stepped outside, the sun blinded her and she found herself suddenly being shoved into a car. She wanted to scream and in fact tried, but the gag in her mouth prevented her from doing so. As the blackness settled into her mind, she vaguely heard her kidnapper's words.   
  
"It's all right, just settle down," said the deep voice. Then there was another voice.  
  
"Is this the one?" came a feminine voice.   
  
"Yes… she is…" Hilde felt her mind go numb and then she was silent.   
  
"Hilde…" That damn bright light. "Hilde…" Stop it… I want to sleep some more… "Hilde…" Leave me alone…   
  
"All right… give her a shot of adrenaline." It was that same feminine voice. Hilde refused to respond. As far as she was concerned, she was safe in her dark world of dreams. Suddenly, her world was interrupted as she felt a prick in her arm and she was suddenly full of energy. Her eyes flew open and they shot around the room she lay in. It was similar to a hospital room, but it was more technologically advanced. Then her eyes landed on the woman.   
  
"Where the hell am I?" she cried as she tried to sit up, but found that she was strapped down. She began to pull at them frantically, but the woman next to the bed laid a comforting hand on her wrist. She wore a dark hood, obscuring her face away from all sight, at least to Hilde.   
  
"You're at the rebel base here in London. One of our spies identified you as a former OZ member, the one that assisted the Gundam pilot." Hilde's eyes narrowed, showing her suspicion.   
  
"What do you want with me?"   
  
"Well we need some help here and were hoping you could assist us in maintaining the peace." Hilde smiled a little. She had come here to find the rebels, but they seemed to have found her first.   
  
"I am only a soldier, what do you want with me?" The corner of the woman's mouth tipped up in a hint of amusement. She slowly began to untie the bands holding Hilde down, seeing that she had calmed herself. Hilde decided it would be best to cooperate with these people.  
  
"To use you as an example of course. If the colonies and people of Earth see that the rebels will accept anyone, no matter who they are, as long as they're fighting for the same thing, then the public would be more inclined to help us in our cause of demolishing OZ." Hilde nodded her head slightly in understanding, but her eyebrows were knit together in disapproval.   
  
"Are you just kidnapping people for yourselves then? Is that what this is?" The woman seemed to be rather annoyed with these comments.   
  
"No, it's not kidnapping, we're only taking in the people that would most likely want to help us and see what they want to do. They always have a choice, including you."   
  
"How do you know that people won't get the wrong idea about you if you keep on making people suddenly disappearing?"   
  
"Well, let's look at it this way. Why were you here in the first place? Looking for us I presume." Hilde remained silent, but nodded her head as she stared up at the woman.   
  
"I came to find someone else as well, but I needed to locate the rebels first."   
  
"I'm assuming that you're talking about Duo Maxwell, the Gundam Pilot you saved." Hilde blushed and nodded again. The woman smiled knowingly.   
  
"All right, you've found us, or better to say, we found you. What do you want to do?" Hilde sat in silence for a very long time before she replied, "I want to find Duo and smack him around for a while, but until then, is it all right if I join this little example of yours?" The woman grinned and stuck out her hand.   
  
"Deal then." Hilde stuck her hand out in like and grabbed hold of the other's in a firm grip.   
  
"Welcome aboard Hilde Scheibeiker."   
  
"Glad to be here…" The young woman removed her dark hood.   
  
"Cathy. Cathy Bloom."   
  
Hilde seemed to vaguely remember falling over hard onto the floor with shock. Cathy only smiled slyly and offered a hand to help her friend up. Before Hilde could say anything a knock at the door interrupted her and a young man walked in and saluted to Cathy, who returned the gesture.   
  
"Excuse me Comrade Bloom, but we've found where the Gundam pilots are posted." Cathy turned to Hilde and smiled.   
  
"And now we begin this example. Do you wish to come along for the ride?" Hilde grinned, grasping the idea quickly.   
  
"I'd love to."   
  
"Wonderful, I have a little surprise for one of the pilots. You may remember several other rebels here as well, or at least may have heard of them." Hilde raised her eyebrow.   
  
"Like who?"   
  
"Ever heard of Natria de Lowen?" Hilde's eyes bugged out.   
  
"No! Not bthe/b Natria de Lowen!" Cathy grinned and nodded.   
  
"The one and only. She has decided to join us."   
  
"Wait, is this the same one who blew up one of the major OZ headquarters single-handedly?"   
  
"Yep." Hilde whistled as if impressed. "You may also know Dorothy Catalonia."   
  
"Wasn't she with OZ?"   
  
"Evidently, she found that OZ was being too boring and decided to take a look at the other side of the war. Her grandfather is rather a cruel man. I suppose she also wanted to get away from him, even though she chooses not to admit it."   
  
"Wow, it seems that you've gathered quite a show. So, what are you doing here? I didn't think Trowa would let you come." Cathy was turning away to the door and paused, but did not turn around.   
  
"I was a sibling for a while and wish to now move on to a different level." Hilde remembered now.   
  
"Trowa Barton's sister? But I thought you two were friends, not sib…"   
  
"Well, I used that as a cover, so I wouldn't let him get hurt, but enough with the chitchat, it is time that we be going." Hilde nodded and gingerly got up off the bed. There was a rebel uniform located in the corner of her room and she stared at it for a moment. Cathy smiled a little.   
  
"I take it that you don't want to wear that?"   
  
"Not really," Hilde said sheepishly.   
  
"I'm not surprised, neither did de Lowen and Catalonia. Do you wish to have a code name as well?"   
  
"I don't know, does Catalonia and de Lowen have ones?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Then consider me to be just Hilde. Scheibeiker, if necessary."   
  
"All right. Shall we be going?" Hilde smiled.   
  
"Yep, let's go!"   
  
They were all feeling rather low at the moment. Trowa was sporting a split lip, Quatre had a purple bruise under his eye, Duo was looking perfectly miserable with his black eye, and Heero was nursing a tender jaw and black eye. Wufei, on the other hand, came out of it completely unscathed, to the annoyance of his fellow pilots. He grinned across the table with a smug look on his face and Duo was secretly thinking of chucking the Chinese pilot out of the window, just to see how much damage he could cause. They were all looking at a map once again of the city. They had gotten wind of an operation that was being prepared by OZ in crushing the rebels. They were planning on letting the operation follow through, as long as no citizens were involved. The rebels were basically on their own on this one.   
  
"So, let me get this straight. You want me and Winner to take sniper positions on outer buildings of the village in case something happens and give a signal if something is happening?" asked Duo.   
  
"Basically," said Heero nonchalantly, wincing a little as his jaw was jarred as he spoke.   
  
"I don't see we can't just go out there and beat living day lights out of OZ. I mean that's what our entire mission is about, right? Getting rid of OZ."   
  
"No, on this particular mission, you are to help citizens only and no rebels at all." Duo rolled his eyes.   
  
"We could end the war here and now."   
  
"Just stick to the mission."   
  
"You and your damn missions!"   
  
"Hey, I'm not the one who gives the orders…"   
  
"Yeah, you're doing a fine job of showing it!"   
  
"…" Heero was ready to leap for Maxwell's throat, but Trowa intervened, not wanting another episode of the night before.   
  
"Would you two shut up and just get ready for the mission. You two get really riled if you're away from your women." Everyone in the room was shocked at Trowa's comment. They didn't have the chance to say anything because they heard a car rolling up in front of the cabin. They all dove for their guns and ran to the windows, looking out through the cracks between the curtains. They heard the car doors slam and several figures jumped out. Four seemed to be women and one was the driver.   
  
"Doesn't look as if anyone is here," grumbled one voice. It struck a chord in Wufei's memory. Another feminine voice came forward as well.   
  
"They're Gundam pilots. Expect anything." Trowa's eyes narrowed, as if realizing something. Duo noticed that the women standing outside had been riding in a rebel car.   
  
One woman went to the door and knocked lightly. Quatre went around to one side of the door as Heero stood on the other side as the doorknob began to turn as the woman tried to open the door.   
  
"Hey, what are we planning on doing when we do meet with the pilots?" Duo's eyes widened in disbelief. No, it couldn't be… it can't be! He refused to believe it. He looked out the window and stared with his jaw falling to the floor. Hilde!   
  
"Well, I guess we try to let them know…" Duo stormed to the door, flung it open and stamped out towards Hilde. His eyes were filled with fury.   
  
"Hilde Scheibeiker! What did I tell you!" Natria and Dorothy had drawn their guns, but Cathy signaled them to put them away immediately.   
  
"Duo… what…"   
  
"Didn't I tell you to stay put?" he yelled practically into her face. It took Hilde a few moments to recover from her initial shock and her own fury was beginning to respond to Duo's tone of voice. He was the one who left without so much as a goodbye and he had the nerve to be yelling at her! Not in this lifetime!   
  
"Did you actually think I was going to listen! I told you I wanted to help with the war you pigheaded galoot!"   
  
"PIGHEADED GALOOT! GRR…I left without saying anything for a reason you simple minded pigeon!"   
  
"Well, obviously you have to work on your tactics!"   
  
"Do you want to take this outside!"   
  
"We are outside you blockhead!" Duo looked around for a moment and frowned.   
  
"So? What's your point?" All of the people standing within the cabin and outside, were staring on in either amusement or bafflement. It was Natria who reached forward to grab a hold of Hilde before she lunged at her roommate and the love of her life's throat. Hilde struggled to get loose, but Duo stood just out of reach, sticking out his tongue. Heero rolled is eyes and debated on telling that other woman to let Hilde go, just so Duo can suffer more than just a black eye.   
  
"Would you two imbeciles knock it off!" cried Wufei as he emerged from the cabin. Hilde and Duo turned to give him death glares and he would have coward away, except he caught sight of Natria. His mouth seemed to drop open. Natria seemed to be all cool, but Hilde had noticed Natria's sudden death grip on her throat and arm. Giving a gagged sound, she signaled for Duo to come and get her out of the death lock. Seeing that her face was turning an unhealthy shade of purple, Duo immediately responded by yanking Hilde's arm. They both ended up tumbling to the ground, but no one noticed as another scene began to unravel.   
  
"Natria?" whispered Wufei. She looked stoic, but her fists were white as they clenched.   
  
"Hello, Wufei."   
  
"I was told you were dead," he said suspiciously.   
  
"By whom?"   
  
"By your father."   
  
"Well, wasn't that rather convenient that you're alive as well?"   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"I was told by my father that you had left and were never coming back."   
  
"Well, he was lying."   
  
"No, he wasn't. You never did come back."   
  
"He said you were dead!"   
  
"What kind of an excuse is that?" Natria spat in disgust.   
  
"What was I supposed to do? Wait and see if you would rise from the dead?"   
  
"You never waited to find out did you? Not once did you come back to our village! You never once thought of it, did you?"   
  
"I…"   
  
"Well, don't worry, I was hurt for a while, but it taught me not to trust men." She eyed him up and down with spite. "Men are weak." Quatre raised his eyebrows. Boy wasn't this a vice versa.   
  
"You were the reason I believed women to be so weak! You couldn't stay alive long enough for me to come and get you!" Natria stiffened.   
  
"I never wanted to even hear your name after I'd found out that you had left. You were the coward and weakling! Not I!" Wufei's face was turning various shades of red.   
  
"What do you think you're doing here?" he finally asked after a few tense moments of inhaling and exhaling. Natria merely looked over her nails with no interest and then turned to look at Wufei.   
  
"What do you think I'm doing here you moron?" she said nonchalantly. "I'm here, with rebels, with no doubt a gun, and a score to settle with someone. I should think a dolt like you could figure it out."   
  
"Shot down," mumbled Dorothy. Quatre quickly elbowed her in the ribs. She glared at the young man, but he acted as if he had done nothing.   
  
"You are nothing but a stupid pathetic woman and…" Cathy took a deep breath as she prepared for the explosion. She let out a growl and everything happened like lightening. Of course, he didn't have time to finish his insult because Natria jumped him and they were rolling as Natria was giving Wufei the beating he didn't receive earlier that night. A corner of Heero's mouth went up in amusement as he watched the 'weak' woman beat down his chauvinistic friend. Surprisingly, Cathy stepped forward and shoved Wufei back with a bloodied lip and Natria with smudges of dirt on her cheeks and forehead. Both were sending death looks at each other, not to mention that they were both heaving for air.   
  
"Look, I know you guys are a little… annoyed that we girls decided to rain in on your parade, but we're not going to accomplish anything until we can all cool down and patiently sit and talk without killing one another." Cathy looked around at all the faces and saw there was no disapproval to this idea. Her eyes caught on Trowa and found that he was definitely preparing to give a good talking to her later. Avoiding that intense glare, she made her way towards the house, but was quickly barred off by Heero.   
  
'Ah, some confidential information is in there I guess. Oh well, the porch is fine too,' thought Cathy as she sat down. The others joined her either in front on the ground or on the porch as well.   
  
"All right, the reason we girls decided to join in this particular situation was because we saw a lot of potential danger here and we wanted to be involved in the protection of the citizens. As it turns out there have been quite a few rebels staying here as well as us. These rebels seem to be having some trouble with controlling their soldiers and we plan on stopping them." Quatre looked confused for a moment.   
  
"I thought there was one rebel group here." Dorothy smiled a little at his ignorance.   
  
"There are more rebel groups than you think. We're not all just one organization. We act in separate coordinated groups." She sounded as if she was lecturing a group of children and she added a sweet smile at the last, irritating the pilots.   
  
"Look, if you think that we're going to combine forces, then…," started Wufei.   
  
"We know that you guys work solo, but we decided that you should be aware that you are not the only ones working on this problem. We have another objective as well. That, we decided to remain our own information." Trowa glowered at Cathy, who responded by glaring right back.   
  
"Look," stated Hilde logically. "I can see that we are all in fowl moods, so I suggest, since you guys know we're here, you get a night to think it over and…"   
  
"A night?" interrupted Duo. "No, we don't have to think about it. You are going home this instant." Dorothy noticed how Trowa and Wufei were getting up the nerve to agree with their friend but death glares from Cathy and Natria sent them into silence. Even if they were planning on responding, they didn't have time because Hilde was responding first.   
  
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"   
  
"If you two start this fight all over again, I swear both sides are going to be short one fighter!" yelled Cathy. Everyone was silent. "Now, I agree with Hilde. You know we're here and what our objective is and we'll leave you to think it through, but know this… You cannot change what we've come here to do. We are not leaving." With that, Cathy spun around towards the jeep once again and Hilde, Dorothy, and Natria all followed. The men sat there, staring with gaping jaws as they were completely brushed off and defied. It took them a moment to realize what had just happened and the air became tense. Heero only shrugged it off and Quatre began to slowly move away.   
  
"Did they just…" started Duo.   
  
"Yes," answered Trowa before he could finish.   
  
"And we just said…"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"And now they're…"   
  
"Not if we have anything to do with it," grumbled Wufei. They all decided to turn in for the night, thinking of what had just happened. 


	5. ebnsb5

Chapter 5  
  
Hilde watched as the scenery sped by, contemplating on what had happened only moments before. Cathy was talking with the others as well. She was going over the schedule of what was to happen the next day. Evidently, Hilde had a different schedule to follow, which made this entire situation slightly more interesting.   
  
"And as soon as Hilde gets her head out of the clouds, I can begin the planning procedure for the infiltration of the enemy headquarters, if that is all right with her." Hilde was stunned out of her reverie and thrown back into the current conversation. She was obviously not paying any attention.   
  
"I'm sorry, I missed all of that. Can you start over?" Cathy blew out of the side of her mouth in an exasperated way and rolled her eyes, waving her hand around in Hilde's face.   
  
"My boss has informed us that there is a huge masquerade ball tonight held within a major OZ branch of headquarters. Our job is to infiltrate and steal as many pieces of information relating to the whereabouts of the political leaders as possible. Are you following me so far, Hilde?" The dark haired young woman nodded, not taking it lightly at being treated like a little girl. She was about to say something rather obscene and cynical, but she was quickly I interrupted by Dorothy, who gave her a pointed look from the side.   
  
"Cathy, if I may ask two questions…" Cathy nodded. "First, who is your 'boss' that you keep on mentioning and two why were we picked in particular?" There was a dead silence filling the room as Cathy licked the top of her lip, obviously thinking of how she can answer this without leaving these women in the dark. With characters like these all sitting in the same room, they're all liable of leaving on the spot if they are not given all the information that they desire. Just as Cathy was opening her mouth to make a quick reply, the door slid open. Everyone turned to stare at the figure standing in the doorway. Cathy smiled, visibly relieved. She raised her hand in introduction.   
  
"Ladies, I'd like you to meet my boss." Gasps flew through the room as the eyes took in the person in charge. Cathy smiled slightly in satisfaction.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lady Une stood immobile over the monitor as she reviewed the tapes that earlier recorded an attempt of infiltration of the OZ offices. Several guards and soldiers were injured in the attempt. The man who had tried this reckless act had immediately committed suicide when he realized that he was trapped and his plans had been foiled. Lady Une's scoured the screen, looking for any evidence leading to where this man had come from or what rebel group he had been involved with. The infiltrator had wired himself to self-destruct with a single push of a button, there was little left of him afterward, nothing to show his identity or his origin. Lady Une had run over these tapes for many hours. This man was obviously looking for confidential information as well as looking to hurt or kill several of the officials.   
  
Lady Une's eyes narrowed as she went backwards in the tape, something catching her eye. She zoomed in closer. It was a tattoo; tiny in size, no bigger than the nail of a pinky finger. It was carefully hidden behind the ear. She zoomed in closer still. It was beginning to come into focus as she enhanced the image. It was a tool, or a hook of some kind. Closer still… It took her several hours more before she had finally enhanced the picture to perfection. It was clearly a reaper. She had found who sent this culprit. Within one hour she had written a report and filed it away for his Excellency to examine. Until then, she would go and confront the organization's leader. The words felt like poison on her lips; Sepple, leader of one of the most notorious mobs formed within the colonies and Earth. He had men throughout every political system imaginable. He bought up tons of markets in research, business, politics, and commercial products. She would have to pay a visit to him once more. They had tried many years earlier to uncover his operation, but he had eluded the investigation with his own tricks and acquaintances within OZ. He was a man to be feared.   
  
Lady Une glared down at the papers and the file before her, displaying Sepple's picture. He was not smiling, but he was dressed in a fine tuxedo and wore fine silk underneath. His face was gaunt and his hair was balding slightly on top. He was rather robust, almost thought of as heavy, yet he was considered very dangerous. Lady Une would have to be very careful with how she handled this case. She quickly scribbled a note and left it for Treize, his Excellency, to find on his desk. She would be back before he finds it, hopefully.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Natria was the first to react. It was not pleasant in fact. Her face of shock turned to one of annoyance and irritation. She stood quickly to lean on the table towards Cathy.   
  
"This is your boss!" she cried. Cathy's smile did not fade. She only nodded slowly, crossing her arms as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "You have a lily-handed pacifist as a boss! The orders are going to come as petting the enemy soldiers over the head and asking them politely to put down their weapons while we stand there and get used as target practice!" Cathy only shrugged and nodded at the figure still standing in the doorway.   
  
"I think you'll be surprised by the extensive knowledge that my boss has with tactical procedures in battle. She's not naïve. Isn't that right, Miss Peacecraft?" Relena stood smiling slightly from the door, leaning against the side, arms crossed, feet intersected at the ankles. She didn't seem like the Relena everyone knew.   
  
"Yes, I've studied quiet a bit as well as going on a few of my own missions." Natria wasn't satisfied with this. She pounded her fist against the hard surface of the table.   
  
"I refuse to take part in such an affiliation as this! It's suicide." Throughout this entire exchange, Dorothy had remained calm as ever. She turned to Natria slowly in her swiveling chair and crossed her fingers, placing her elbows on the arms of the chair, leaning her chin against the side of her interlocked fingers.   
  
"Shut up, Natria," she said simply. It had the desired effect. Dorothy continued to address her. "I have seen Relena in action before, grant it, it was for a brief time, but I believe that she knows full well in what she is doing, but what I still have to be answered, is why did she pick us in particular?" Relena finally moved away from the door and towards the head of the table, which Cathy gave up willingly. Relena stood, hands gripping the edge of the surface, her eyes moving from one woman to another.   
  
"Every one of you has a connection to the Gundam pilots. I had to do a lot of digging to find all of you. For some of you, it was a shock that you had any connection whatsoever." She looked pointedly towards Dorothy, who looked rather uneasy. Relena continued. "I won't go into particulars, from what I heard a lot of it was explained for the majority, some in the meeting with the Gundam pilots." Now her eyes landed on Natria, who blushed, but turned her head away, the pride still firmly in place. She was interrupted by Hilde suddenly.   
  
"I can understand Cathy, Natria, after yesterday's display, and even you Miss Peacecraft, but Dorothy," Hilde turned to the woman sitting across the table from her. "What connection do you have with the pilots?" she asked curiously. Dorothy seemed to shrink slightly, but quickly regained her ground, sitting straight and staring ahead. She shrugged slightly.   
  
"I knew Quatre when we were children. I doubt he remembers me." Everyone's attention was riveted on Dorothy. Relena pulled a chair up, knowing that this was going to take a spell. "My mother was hiding from my grandfather, trying to keep my brother and me out of his clutches. She took us under false identifications and set up a small bar where we played pool. Timmy and I became quite good at it actually. We had a young boy that would come in all the time as well, to get away from his terrible life, is what he used to tell us. I never believed him, but I knew that something was bothering him all the time, like a dark cloud that followed him everywhere he went. We knew each other well enough to be able to sit down for an afternoon and talk. He never got that close to me or my brother. It was as if he was afraid of us. Eventually, my grandfather found us. He was after my little brother, but in the attempt of extracting us, he was killed. I was only left, so I was to become my grandfather's heir. He wasn't expecting me to be so rebellious. I heard that Quatre came back several times to find me, but finally realized that I was gone for good. I don't think he would recognize me now. It was a long time ago." Everyone sat silently, hardly believing what was being said. Hilde felt rather suspicious of the information being given. Dorothy Catalonia had been far too open about all of this. She was leaving something out, something that Relena knew, but chose not to point out. Hilde snorted, but didn't say anything further. She would find out later if at all possible. Until then, the case was closed. They were all in on a mission now and they had to cooperate with one another. Relena cleared her throat.   
  
"I'm sure all of you are aware of part of your mission, but Cathy was just about to tell you the other part that we left out from telling the pilots." Everyone's eyes were now on her once again. She leaned back in her chair, staring out at the others. "One part is to keep control of the other rebels who are being radical in their movements, but the other section of this mission is to keep the Gundam pilots under control as well. By having people they know and care about from some point in the history, we have a better chance of having a controlled environment to work with." Natria spoke up suddenly.   
  
"What about Heero? As far as I am aware of, he has no one he cares for in particular." Relena smirked slyly.   
  
"You leave that to me," she said mysteriously. 


	6. ebnsb6

Chapter 6  
  
It took Duo several moments to remember why in Hades, he was sleeping on a hard, uncomfortable couch with nothing but a blanket to use as a comfort, instead of in Hilde's arms. It had only been once, but damned if he didn't think he had been in her bed forever. Duo shook his head, already telling it was going to be terrible. He resisted the moment of contentment knowing that Hilde was there though, well, not really there, but more within a distance where he could keep a close eye on her. It was true that he was always worrying about her, where she was, what she was doing, and if she was safe. That was something he was not accustomed to and there were some of the downfalls to such feelings, at least in his eyes. Of course, he missed the ability of not caring about anyone and doing what he felt like doing; simply going on a whim wherever he pleased. That all changed after he had moved in with Hilde. After that, things began to change on him and before he knew it, he was praying that the war would end and he could settle down into a normal routine with his girl. Duo grinned a little, his eyes sliding shut. The words rolled over him like warm waves; 'bhis/b girl'. It felt great.   
  
His blissful thoughts were interrupted by a rough foot driving itself into his side. He rolled over to glower up at the intruder upon his happy little dream world he had created. Wufei stood with a small smile on his lips.   
  
"Time to get up," he said quietly. He walked away, and if he had been anyone else but Wufei, he would have stuck his hands in his pockets and started to whistle some little blue bird tune. Duo ground his teeth noisily and sat up, groggily looking at his surroundings. Heero was already at the maps, charts, and files. Quatre was being sensible and already put out some food for them, sure they were small slices of bread and some rice, but it would have to do. Trowa stood watch over the windows, leaving Wufei to do more of his hacking into the rebel systems. Duo could tell his braid was a mess, but he should have been used to that after Kami knew how many years of war and endless battles. Heero looked up only for a moment to glance at Duo. Then he returned to his work. He spoke was he memorized numbers and codes.   
  
"I have a job for you," he said suddenly. Duo looked around at the other pilots, not sure of who Heero was talking to. None of them were looking at him; that was a bad sign. Heero looked up when he did not hear a response from Duo.   
  
"I need you to infiltrate the base about 60 miles north of here and tap into the computer systems and implant our own tracking devices." Duo was groggy, but he wasn't completely out of his mind. He frowned critically.   
  
"That's the base that I'm assuming the girls are located." The only base all of them knew about the time that they arrived was the one only 30 miles away to the east, and that was the one that had their main concerns, at least before all of those crazy females appeared. It was only logical to assume that Hilde was only 60 miles away and definitely within spying range. Then it hit him.   
  
"Why am I stuck with this job?" he cried. Going onto such turf was dangerous, but the danger was increased by ten fold when the people there knew to look for you. Trowa answered for Heero.   
  
"Because you're the only one who has the least chance of either being killed or killing someone there." Duo understood. Trowa was already mad as Hades at Cathy for signing up with such an organization. Quatre was neutral ground; so therefore, the rebels would not have much hesitance in questioning him thoroughly, not to mention, most of them thought Quatre was rather soft around the edges. Wufei would be shot on sight by Natria and Heero…  
  
"Hey, wait, why can't Heero do this?"   
  
"I have no connections to that base and besides, I have better things to do than worry about those inexperienced females." Trowa thought to intervene again, with a small smirk.   
  
"He found out Relena has some part with that base." Duo grinned, winking in mock understandment. Heero would cross the galaxy to get away from Relena, for what reasons, Duo didn't know, but he had a good guess that it had something to do with Heero simply wishing to not feel anything close to human emotions. That must by why Relena scared him so much. She brought out feelings in him that he thought had never existed.   
  
Heero sent a deathly glare towards Trowa, but simply ignored the comment, returning to his vow of silence. Duo rolled his eyes and rethought the plan. He would be able to keep a closer eye on Hilde and without her knowing. That was a definite plus. Looking, but not getting slaughtered for it. That was such a great idea. Smiling, Duo nodded. The best part was that they would not know and he would not be caught.   
  
"So, where do I start?"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How could you do this!" screamed Hilde nearly at the top of her lungs. Duo sat with his hands cuffed severely to the back of his chair. His head was bowed as he took his verbal beating. He sat in a small room with a single interrogation light gleaming overhead. He looked up and tried to give Hilde his best smile, but the withering glare sent his way vanquished any hope of sympathy.   
  
"What on Earth possessed you to think that you could simply waltz in here, impersonate a guard, skip into the main headquarters and bug our system? Anyone could tell it was you before you hit the base with that braid hanging out like a banner." Duo flinched, yes, he was in such a hurry to get it done and over with, he had forgotten about his trademark hair. The guys were going to kill him for screwing up.   
  
"When will you ever learn that I am a full grown woman, I can take care of myself, and it's none of your business in what I do during the course of this war." Now that was hitting a nerve and Hilde saw it immediately. The thought of the handcuffs were no longer a comfort because Duo had easily disposed of them throughout her rampage. His face went to one of defeat to a look of utter anger. He was out of the chair and backing her up just by his presence. She eventually hit the wall behind her, finding she had no where else to go, she stood, waiting for Duo's wrath. He was practically breathing fire.   
  
"You just assume that after what we've been through and what we have done, that I will turn my head when you go out and put yourself right at the center of some hornet's nest?" Hilde was opening her mouth to say something. "Shut up!" She was silent; the shock of Duo's sudden reprimand was almost appalling to her. He had never scolded her in such a way. "I believe, BMiss/B Hilde Scheibecker, that you owe me an apology for that comment because you do realize that you are my responsibility as long as you persist in being a participant of this war." Hilde was biting her lip and trying desperately hard not to yank her head away from Duo's, he had come perilously close to her own throughout his tirade. It only took her a moment to realize that Duo was reacting this way because he was afraid of losing something dear to him and Hilde was putting that person in danger. The fact that it was herself sent a shiver up her spine. Not an all together horrible feeling. She remained silent.   
  
"I'm still waiting for that apology," he growled. Hilde glared up at him, finally pulling herself out of her trance of fear. This was Duo and she never let him run her over like that.   
  
"Fine, if you won't give me an apology, I'll just have to take it." At the last, he lunged forward and pinned her hard against the wall. He invaded her mouth roughly, pillaging what was there. Hilde wasn't sure how to react. It had only been a matter of days since they had seen each other last, but it felt like years. She had missed him during the evenings and throughout the day. He was always a source of her happiness and without him, life seemed so bleak. Duo's ravishing soon turned to gentle probing, questioning. 'Is everything ok?' Hilde deepened the kiss once again. 'Yes.' Duo held her tightly to his chest. Like her, he had missed her as well, feeling the chasm that had once been his world before he had met her, closing up again. During the time he had not seen her, he had felt the looming abyss within his soul yawning open slowly once again. Such deep feelings were horrifying in his mind, but for some reason, the vision of Hilde's smile banished such unsure feelings. They were simply two people in love.   
  
"Ahem." The interruption didn't seem to stop anything. Duo continued to hold Hilde in a tight embrace as Hilde threaded her fingers into his braid. A small cough went through the room, the person obviously trying to get someone's attention, but she went unheard.   
  
"Excuse me," hissed Cathy. Once again, they were oblivious to her presence. "Hey, you two, break it up." No response. Finally, Cathy rolled her eyes and leaned out into the hall and whispered something to the guard. He gave her a strange look, but did not question her. In a moment, he returned with a bucket of cold water. Cathy smiled and gave him a quick thank you as she proceeded to douse the two lovers. Duo and Hilde sputtered and tried to figure out what had happened. Duo looked up to find Cathy standing before them, leaning heavily on one leg and a bucket dangling from her fingers. She was grinning slyly.   
  
"I'm glad that worked or else I would have had to bring out the hose and then we would have had an even bigger mess to clean up." Duo let out an embarrassed cough as Hilde cleared her throat, thinking of something to say for this particular situation. There really wasn't anything. Cathy seemed to understand. Her smile remained pasted in place as she made for the door.   
  
"Now that everything is under control here, Hilde, I have arranged it so that Duo may stay here for the evening. He may find a room if he wishes, or find… other accommodations." Hilde swore under breath. Cathy let out a chuckle and left.   
  
"Well, it looks like I need a place to stay," said Duo with a huge grin. Despite the fact that she was soaked completely through to the skin, Hilde sauntered casually towards the door and looked back over her shoulder.   
  
"Good luck finding a place then." Duo's eyes narrowed.   
  
"That's just cruel." She grinned. "What's even more cruel is the fact that you're currently wearing a very white, very wet t-shirt and I don't get to stay with you." Hilde's eyes widened as she glanced down and saw what he meant. Letting out a gasp, she fled for her room, Duo in hot pursuit. A devilish grin began to spread across his face. Yes, he definitely had a place to stay tonight. 


	7. ebnsb7

"Come on Wufei, it's not like he completely botched the mission. He did manage to tap into the communication system before he was thrown into the lap of luxury," defended Quatre. Wufei was pacing back and forth, he had been doing so since they had received news that Duo had been caught, and not only caught, but being lavished with a nice room including a woman that Duo joked, came with the pillow. The man had the nerve to leave a message starting out with, "Hey! I failed my mission, but you know what? It doesn't matter because I can keep a better eye on the girls from here." Wufei was grinding his teeth by the end of the long description of the nice warm bubble bath that he had. None of the other pilots had been given the opportunity to bathe for the last two days. It was not very comfortable for any of them. P  
  
"I say we go over there and drag him back by his braid," growled Wufei lamely. Heero had been leaning quietly in the shadows, listening to Wufei vent his frustration on burning ears. At this, he finally spoke. P  
  
"He has a point." The sudden interjection caused everyone to fall silent. One could hear a pin drop in the room. When Heero knew that he had their full attention he continued. "It would be easier to see what exactly goes on inside that rebel camp if Duo is there keeping an eye on things. He can report to us directly." Surprisingly, Wufei was not the one to object. P  
  
"Duo is going to be too distracted with the woman to be anywhere near useful," commented Trowa. Heero seemed to think it over several times. P  
  
"What do you suggest we do?" P  
  
"What I suggest we do would require guns, torture devices, and handcuffs." P  
  
"Extracting those rebel women will not be of help to us right now. We have to concentrate on our mission. Let Duo deal with it and we can get our stuff done without them interfering." Trowa and Wufei reluctantly agreed and turned away to do something to keep their minds off the current lack of a member of the group. Quatre could only feel slightly embarrassed that it really didn't matter to him one way or another as long as the mission was completed. He had nothing to do with these women. There really wasn't that big of a deal. P  
  
P  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
P  
  
The street was extremely long to the naked eye. The darkness seemed to cut off any visibility past a block. Only a small row of lamp posts could be seen winding it's way over the crest of the hill and further into the valley. He stood with his hands in his pockets, his gun strapped safely to his side on the inside of his coat. Lazily, he turned and stared into the window of an old candy store. A small bit of fog puffed out from his mouth onto the glass. It was getting colder out. Pretty soon the ground would be covered in snow. The shop was of course empty, but there were a few remnants of pieces of candy, strewn over the floor. The glass windows to the door had been broken. It was indeed a very old candy store. All of the stores and houses around had thick windows and all metal doors to keep the crime on the streets and out of the house. This store was long ago ravaged by thieves, now there was nothing left of interest. P  
  
Heero's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden dropping of a trash can, followed by a screech from a cat. He spun quickly, towards the alley. The sound of footsteps could be heard running away. Without hesitation, Heero followed in hot pursuit. He avoided pieces of garbage and broken bottles as he dashed after the figure. He moved quickly, bolting around corners. For a moment, Heero lost track of where he was going and stopped, having to listen for the footsteps. As soon as he found the direction he was off again, his feet soaked from the puddles of muck everywhere. Within moments, Heero could barely make out the shadow of a person running headlong down an alleyway then suddenly disappearing from sight into a building. He didn't even stop to see which building it was. Heero dove straight away into the door only to be pulled up short by a cocking of a gun. He froze, his hands slowly rising into the air a look of emotionless ness etched into his face. Not even attempting to look at his attacker, he slowly turned the opposite way as the gun nudged into the side of his head, his back now to his assailant. P  
  
"You've been losing your touch Heero Yuy," whispered a deep voice. It was one Heero could not recognize. The gun was pressed tantalizingly close to his head as whoever stood behind him came up closer, wrapping an arm around his waist. His eyes grew wide in surprise as that hand began to move around, being very delicate, tracing the top of his pants. He then realized it was a woman who stood behind him. Swinging around, surprising her, he pushed the gun away and had her pinned to the floor within a split second. The small microphone that transformed her voice into a deep baritone fell and rolled away from her lips. Golden hair was pulled up into a tight bun covered in a black knit hat. She wore a black jacket and pants. Blue eyes were glowing up at him over a small mouth shaped in a shocked 'o'. P  
  
"Relena…" His guard was down, that's all she needed. Lunging forward, she pulled him into a tight embrace, smothering his next comment in a deep kiss. Quickly wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to the floor and herself. He was stiff with his surprise, but her lips were so enticing that he couldn't hold onto that shock for very long. Before he could tell what was happening, he was kissing her back passionately, feeling as if he had been deprived of a feast. The hat came off and golden hair fell down in pools of silk. She was so soft. His arms were wrapped desperately around her waist, allowing himself to press in on her. It was so good. His foot moved and accidentally hit the gun that had fallen forgotten next to them. It brought him back to his mind. He pulled back instantly and got up, moving as far from her as possible. Relena was disheveled. He didn't offer her a hand up. She slowly got up, not showing any disappointment of him pulling away so quickly. Dusting off her backside, she looked up at his Prussian gaze intensely. She was not shaken at all. The hair fell over one shoulder. Heero nearly lost himself again watching her. P  
  
"You recover quickly," she said quietly. Looking around her, she picked up her hat and the small microphone. "Jerry would kill me if I lost this," she mumbled, half paying attention to Heero who was now glaring at her with as much menace as possible. She had just overrun a wall that he had built years ago. P  
  
"What are you doing here?" he growled out. Relena glanced at him as she reached over for the gun. Heero got to it first and pulled it out of her reach. Relena stood straight, with just as an annoyed look on her face, hands on hips. P  
  
"I was the one who wanted you to come down here," she said as she presented her hand, obviously looking to get back the gun. Heero stubbornly held onto it. P  
  
"Why?" P  
  
"Come now Heero, you know why I'm here. I know you have the files and all of the information." He didn't say anything. Sighing, Relena walked past him to a nearby crate and sat down on it. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter. Heero frowned. Relena glanced over as she lit it and inhaled. "I started not too long ago. It's a bad and sweet habit. I promised Pagan that I would quit, but as you can see, it's a losing battle." She offered him one and as she expected, he did not accept it. P  
  
"How did you become involved with the rebels Relena?" She leaned back against the moldy walls to contemplate how to explain. P  
  
"I've always had my connections with the rebels. This particular group I started on my own. I am usually not the one to take advantage of people's allegiance to me, but in this case I think it will help the greater good. This war has to end, Heero. We plan on accomplishing this, but only if you promise to stay out of the way." There was the catch. Heero knew that she would probably request him not to interfere. Of course, he had other ideas. P  
  
"What if I decide that is something I won't do?" P  
  
"I anticipated that reply." Standing up and keeping the cigarette, attractively, between her two lips, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small disk. She threw it to Heero who caught it deftly in the air. He didn't even glance at it. "That has all the codes and information ever needed to infiltrate any and all colonies that are within the government jurisdiction, that's about 75%. I know many people who would be willing to get that information. You do know what kind of people are out there Heero, don't you? Terrorists. Every one of them. I've decided to take out all information concerning civilian colonies, but as for industrial as well as secret bases, all of that information will be open for the black market. If you fail to stay out of our way, Heero Yuy, as well as the other pilots, I'll hand it over to Sepple." Heero's eyes immediately narrowed. The name was widely known. He was the supposed ruler of the underground mafia, Reaper. With that kind of information, the man would become even more powerful than before. P  
  
"You wouldn't do that." P  
  
"If it means stopping this war, then I will. I have other means of maintaining peace, but for now, I want you and your pilots to stay out of this situation. Right now, we have Duo, so we can keep a very close eye on him. Oh don't look so surprised Heero, don't tell me you thought that Duo would be keeping an eye on us. We know that he's contacted you already. We'll keep him very preoccupied. Stay out of the way." With that, Relena moved towards the door, only to stop next to Heero. Gently reaching over, she slid the gun from his hand and put it into the holster at her side. He let it go without a fight. Just as she was turning to leave he reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulders. P  
  
"You won't do that to the colonies, you can't," he growled. A small enlightened smile came over her face. P  
  
"Heero Yuy, I am not coldhearted, I've only become less naive. I can tell you that one thing will make this easier. I'll hand over all of the information to you if you give me your word that you will not interfere." Heero looked down, contemplating the choices. "And a kiss." With that his eyes flew straight back up to meet with Relena's. She was smiling lightly. A long silence followed. Neither moved for it seemed forever. Finally, Relena pulled away. P  
  
"That's what I thought. Goodbye Heero," she said. Outside it had begun to snow lightly. Heero watched as she slowly disappeared into the darkness, surrounded by the falling snowflakes. He stood in the doorway for a while, staring at the steam coming from his mouth. Shaking his head, he tried desperately to shut out the memories of her. It had all been a mistake back then. It only managed to interfere with his mission and nothing would or could ever do that. Had it really only been four months? A vision of her walking away, holding the umbrella as the rain poured down. It was in the same fashion. Heero didn't do anything about it, only watched her leave him behind. 'Goodbye, Heero'. The memory never left him. He would wake up in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, crying out. It was for the best; at least, that's what he told himself. Then his mind would wander. What if a soldier could be renewed? What if all of the bloodshed he had caused and the suffering he had inflicted could be erased so that he could be happy with his angel? Was it possible? Heero shook his head. He would have to forget about that from now on. It was in the way of the mission now. He only now discovered a much greater hurdle to get over. She went by the name of Relena Peacecraft. 


	8. ebnsb8

Chapter 9  
  
"Babe, you're not leaving me here!" argued Duo as Hilde ran around the room dressing for the day's battle. They had received information that the other rebels were planning on attacking a base nearby which was also surrounded by civilian homes and communities of the soldiers. Whoever had designed such a stake out was an idiot. Some enemies don't have morals, such as these rogue rebels. Hilde cursed as she realized she only had one boot.   
  
"Duo, do me a favor and be quiet. Damn it! Where is my shoe?" she yelled in frustration. Feeling a lot of pressure of being on time to the hanger was causing her movements to be rapid and jerky. Duo sat on the bed with a sheet barely covering him. Hilde rolled her eyes as she realized that the missing article was under the bed. As she leaned down, Duo stood up, ignoring his lack of clothing and stood behind Hilde. As she stood up, pulling the shoe open and concentrating on fixing the lacing she turned only to bump into him. Taking advantage of her off balance, he fell forward, pushing her back onto the bed. She let out a yelp. Duo effectively pinned her to the mattress.   
  
"Duo! What the hell are you doing? I have to be out of here in five minutes!" Duo grimaced.   
  
"I'm not letting you go to battle without me."   
  
"Duo, I can take care of myself. Now get off, I'm going to be late."   
  
"Babe, this isn't like going off to work and I'll see you later. You could go out and seriously get hurt!" Duo was obviously becoming very irritated among other things. Hilde's squirming was not helping him concentrate on containing this woman.   
  
"I'm not an idiot, Duo. I did happen to survive before I met you and I was a soldier if you don't remember." She uselessly tried shoving him aside. He wasn't listening. She was about to protest again when he dove in after her and kissed her, trying to preoccupy her with something else. It was so tempting. Damn, he was a good kisser if he put his mind to it. He was so warm and the feel of him pressing down on her was so enticing. As soon as Duo started undoing the buttons that she had just a moment ago taken care of she snapped out of her drugged state.   
  
"Duo!"   
  
"Come on, Hilde. Stay here with me. I need you here," he said hotly.   
  
"No," she mumbled, trying to distract herself from his ministrations. She moved towards the edge of the bed, buttoning the one he had managed to open. "No, no, no, I have to go." Just as she got up she felt him grab a hold of her hand. She turned to start her protest once again, only to be stopped dead in her tracks. His eyes were intense, a strange mix of energy and sadness. They were pleading.   
  
"Please… Hilde… I'm begging you not to go." Instead of continuing to pull away, she turned fully to face him. She gently cradled his head in her hands and kissed him lovingly on the lips. Then she stared straight into those violet orbs.   
  
"Duo, I love you darling, but I have to do this. Perhaps you can use this and see how I felt every time you had to leave on a mission." This seemed to make it through to him.   
  
"Hilde…" he whispered. She smiled and kissed him again.   
  
"I love you, Duo."   
  
"I love you too, Babe." He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her stomach as she stood there. She ran her hands over his head, combing through his loose hair. Her heart felt much lighter than it had in days.   
  
"I'll be back before you know it," she said. Duo grumbled something only pulling away to lean up and pulling her down at the same time to give her a timeless embrace of lips.   
  
"Damn well better," he said after he released her. "The God of Death doesn't take well to his girl being taken by any other god of death but him." Hilde smiled and turned to pick up her boot and slide it on. She was officially late, but it was all right.   
  
After the door had closed Duo leaped for the small drawer next to the bed, pulling out a small square communicator. He turned it on quickly and switched on the knob. The small screen flashed with salt and pepper before turning into a black screen. Duo tapped on a button for a moment or two before a face appeared on the screen. It was Trowa.   
  
"Trowa, the rebels here have moved out to stop an attack on the base east of here by the other rebels. You need to get out there and watch over the battle." Trowa didn't say anything at first. "Trowa?"   
  
"We can't do anything," he grumbled. Duo's eyebrows knit together in confusion.   
  
"What do you mean you can't do anything?" Trowa seemed a little irritated by Duo's questioning.   
  
"There are certain circumstances keeping us from being involved with the women rebels concerning the colonies." Duo's eyes narrowed.   
  
"So you're saying that we can't even battle in our own mission?" Trowa was silent again.   
  
"No, I didn't say that, but we can't be involved with the women and interfere in what they do." Duo seemed to soak this in for a moment. An idea began to form within the back of his mind, quickly analyzing the situation.   
  
"We can't interfere in what they do, but we can proceed with our own mission." Duo smiled mischievously. Trowa's eyes narrowed in understanding.   
  
"It seems we've received more information about the rebels' activities. I think we better go investigate." Duo smiled as he realized that Trowa understood what he was saying. "We'll leave immediately."   
  
"Trowa…"   
  
"What?"  
  
"Look out for Hilde for me, will you?" Trowa gave a small nod before the screen went blank. Duo let out a gust of air as he fell back on the bed. All he could do now was wait. 


	9. ebnsb9

The battle had been progressing well over the last four hours. The beginning had been rough when the first line of offensive maneuvering was broken through. No one had expected the base to be that prepared for a rebel attack, but the rebels knew that it was going to be a hard fight. They fought their way from the edge of the base, to the very hangar. The tower had been taken out immediately so no help could be called. The information had been received only a day before that the other out of control rebel group had plans on attacking this base; unfortunately there were civilian facilities not far away. Relena wanted to make it to the base first to destroy it with as little damage as possible. The other rebels did not care for civilians' lives. Preparations had to be made as quickly as possible in order to get to the base a day before the others.   
  
Natria stared at her opponent, sweat beginning to trickle down her cheek and off her chin. Her teeth were clenched. It seemed as if they kept coming, but how? The entire rebel forces was fighting madly and succeeding at an alarming rate, but this battle should have been over with a while ago, why did the flow keep on coming? Turning her mobile suit, she fired her gun into an oncoming enemy suit. It crumbled, completely disabled. She was about to finish the job when another moved in the way.   
  
"Cathy, get out of the way," growled Natria.   
  
"You know what Relena said. Spare as many lives as possible." Natria grumbled a reply before turning to block a blow from another.   
  
"This pacifist style is really cramping me."   
  
"It's cramping a lot of us, darling," called Dorothy from the other side of the hangar. They were all fighting diligently, yet it was beginning to look more difficult by the moment.   
  
"Where are they coming from?" called Hilde, holding back her enemy with her gun as he swung a sword at her. She flung him backwards and shot off his leg, he fell to the ground, unable to get up. Suddenly, from the back of the hangar she noticed something odd. There was a trail of oil leading into the wall. Walking over, she inspected it. Then standing back, so looked over the wall and came only to one conclusion. Stepping further back and clearing her companions away from the area, she fired her beam cannon at full power into the wall. It exploded and what remained behind it nearly numbed everyone's bones. It was an entire floor below ground of mobile suits being armed and piloted up towards the battle. The discovery nearly crumbled their morale. It came to Cathy in a sudden realization that this was why the other rebels had planned on attacking this base. She cursed as she ordered her men to pull back and form a strong front. Sweat trickled down cold, clammy skin as she prepared for a long fight.   
  
"Hold the line!" The order ran down to every soldier. The men clung desperately to his controls. The sound of metal scraping as the enemy soldiers mobilized in waves began to sweep throughout the base. They had been discovered and none of these rebels were to be left alive.   
  
The first shot was fired from the enemy and took down the rebel closest to Cathy. Ignoring the cry from the rebel, she yelled to pull in closer and center the attack into the middle of the wave of mobile suits in front of them.   
  
"Hold it steady! On my mark… FIRE!" Blast after blast tunneled through the enemy's frontline only to be replaced by more. Hilde grit her teeth as she took aim at her opponent. Not today, she wasn't going to die today! This hope faltered as she realized that they would not be able to hold off the approaching enemy. It would be better to leave now while they still had a chance of surviving. These thoughts were racing through her head when they were interrupted abruptly by a loud explosion off in the distance. Everyone paused to look at a funnel of smoke rising from the tower nearby. It had been destroyed by a Gundam.   
  
"If you're going to attack, at least get all of your information first," growled a deep voice.   
  
"Wufei?" cried Cathy, bewildered that he, followed by other three Gundam pilots, were there on the battlefield.   
  
"Shut up, we have work to do," he hissed, ignoring her bewildered voice. As if as one, the Gundams flew straight into the fray of things and began to shred the confused enemy soldiers apart. Each not even hesitating to take down the enemy. Natria stared on, not sure how to feel about Wufei's presence. This battle was supposed to be fought alone by the rebels. There's no way that they could have known about this attack. Frowning, the answer slowly entered her mind. Shaking her head, she broke the line and followed suit with the Gundams. She could hear Cathy yelling at her to get back into the defensive line, but she only ignored her, continuing to fight her way closer to Wufei. She found that no matter how much she wanted to stay away from him, the urge to be near him was overwhelming, even if it meant to be next to him in battle. Gritting her teeth, she took a blow to the side as she tried to dodge around one mobile suit that stood in her way. She knew she wasn't going to recover fast enough. She waited for the stunning jolt that would follow from another attack. It didn't come. Looking up, she saw Hilde bravely fighting her way next to her. Looking up at the monitor, she grinned down at Natria.   
  
"You're not the only who is going to get to some action." Natria smiled back. Her original quest quickly returned back to her mind. Swinging around, she found Wufei fending off an onslaught of mobile suits. Behind him stood a suit, prepared to strike. Glowering, Natria raised her beam canon and put the danger out of the way. Wufei barely even acknowledged her existence. She fought near him, always moving when he moved, but never right next to him. Her strength was depleted and it felt as if the waves of soldiers were never going to end. By now either the rebels had joined in the fighting or had run away, trying to save themselves. They would be dealt with later if they survived this battle. With every blow, Natria felt the strength draining further. Her concentration broke when she failed to notice an oncoming blow from one enemy suit. She fell to the ground, waiting for the final blow to finish her. It never came.   
  
Wufei had seen her situation and knew immediately that she was not going to be of any use if she was this weak by now. Grumbling, he made his way over to her. Just as he reached her location she was knocked over by an enemy. Grumbling, he shot forward his Gundam claw and ripped the head of the mobile suit off. Natria was safe, but she was only distracting him at this point.   
  
"Get out of here Natria," he said as he returned his attention to the other suits coming forward. She smirked weakly as she moved to get up again.   
  
"Not a chance. You know I don't take orders from anyone anymore."   
  
"You're being stupid again."   
  
"That's what comes with making too many mistakes." This comment confused Wufei, but he shrugged it off, realizing there was more fighting to do.   
  
"Just keep down and stay out of my way," he growled. Natria glared up at him as he passed her by. She realized that her controls had frozen up and she could only do what he said unwillingly.   
  
Before she knew what was going on, Heero was giving the order to get away from the hangar. It was a warning and Natria soon saw everyone running past her. Cursing all the way, she hit the ejection button only to find it was dead. The next best thing was to slam her feet against the hatch, it was sealed tight. A small sweat began to break out on her forehead. Shaking her head viciously, she dropped the panic. Panic could only succeed in killing a person. She slammed her feet against the door again; it held firm again. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself together and dove for the control panel and pulled off the top, it was a mass of wiring, blues, greens, yellows, reds. A vision of her father ran through her head.   
  
"Move faster Natria! You're never going to be a good warrior if you don't know how to do this! Not that wire you idiot. You have 30 seconds left and you haven't even found the main control center!" Natria had only been 10 years old, but she was expected to know all of this by now. She wasn't a great soldier, she never was meant to be one. Tears fled down her face as her small hands shook, trying to find the main control center. "Stop your sniveling you runt. You will not make a mockery of me." Then the 30 seconds were gone. Her father walked over to her and hit her across the face. "Worthless," he hissed. She began to cry with all the pent up tears she had tried to hide unsuccessfully, but she as grabbed by the hair and she was forced to stare up into her father's amber eyes. That was something she hated doing, it reminded her of herself with her own odd colored eyes, compliments of his genes. "Crying is for the weak," he growled at her.   
  
Natria realized that the memory had frozen her in her process of getting out. The tears had suddenly started with the memories. Throwing off the memory, she returned to the panel. She had to connect the wiring for the hatch. It must have come loose when she had been hit by the enemy. She vaguely noticed her hands were beginning to shake. The only reason why an entire group of Gundams would retreat would by for only one reason; they were planning on sending a missile to finish the job. The hangar was a death trap. This pushed her harder to find the wires; her hurry nearly had her electrocuted. She pulled her hands quickly out of the wires when one wire proceeded to fly around in circles, the force of the electricity not allowing it to sit still. Her eyes followed carefully. Just as she was about to reach and grab it in a suicidal attempt, the hatch to her suit was ripped from its hinges. Outside she received a clear view of a mobile suit graveyard. Smoke was rising up in small streams from all over. What attracted her attention the most was the large Gundam standing outside, holding its palm out for her. She immediately noticed it was Quatre.   
  
"I saw you were having trouble. Come on!" he cried. Natria released herself from her bindings to the seat and leaped out onto his hand, grabbing hold of the thumb for balance as he rose up to stand straight. Then they were making their way out of the carnage. Natria looked around, seeing that they were the only ones left still running. She frowned, how was it that he saw her in passing, he should have been long gone, with the others. The question mulled its way around her head as the hangar behind them suddenly exploded into an array of orange, yellow, black, and red. Natria didn't look back. 


End file.
